Attack on Fullmetal
by thegiantslayer1994
Summary: Edward Elric finds a lead which may return his lost limbs, but leads to a world where humanity is on the brink of extinction. He seeks a way to return home to his brother, encountering yet another military government rife with corruption, new friends, and new enemies.
1. Chapter 1

_Warning: The following paragraph is back story for Fullmetal Alchemist. This is here for those who have only seen Attack on Titan. Feel free to skip it if you've seen Fullmetal Alchemist, or read it and comment on how good a summary it is. This fanfic follows the Fullmetal Alchemist manga/ Brotherhood storyline. Contains spoilers, of course, and I will attempt to avoid manga spoilers for Attack on Titan._

Alchemy, the study of the natural world and its principles. At the heart of alchemy is the law of "equivalent exchange", in order to gain something you must exchange something of equal value. Those who practice alchemy can do extraordinary things, from raising a stone wall from the dirt in the ground to repairing a broken radio near instantaneously. The philosophers stone, a mythical artefact, can break the laws of equivalent exchange, allowing extraordinary acts ranging from bringing someone from the brink of death to destroying entire cities in minutes. However, there are rules that must not be broken under any circumstances. One such rule is to never attempt to create human life, for nothing is it's equal. Two young boys, Edward and Alphonse Elric, broke this rule attempting to bring back their mother, and suffered the price. Edward lost his right arm and left leg, while Alphonse lost his entire body, having his soul bound into a suit of armour. Edward joined the military of Amestris, becoming a State-Alchemist, in order to find a philosophers stone, and restore their bodies. However, he found that in order to create a stone, human lives must be sacrificed. So the brothers swore off using a stone to restore their bodies, loathing their very existence, and sought another way to return their bodies.

"So that's the guy huh," said a young blonde boy wearing a red coat, seemingly to an empty suit of armour next to him, "Arnold Steiner, the one claimed to be able to heal any injury?" "Yes brother," replied the armour, in the voice of a young child, "maybe he'll be able to repair your arm and leg."

The pair were called Edward and Alphonse Elric, and they were watching a man in a white coat entering a large building outside of a small town in Southern Amestris. Edward spoke up, "Sorry Al, but I still don't like me getting fixed while you're still stuck like that. After all, it's my fault that..." "Just stop Ed!", whispered Alphonse loudly, "I won't have you missing your chance to get your body back just because you feel bad!"

"Alright Al, but I still won't give up on getting your body back, and it's probably just another hoax."

The pair walked up to the door and knocked loudly, "Hey Steiner, I wanna talk to you about fixing my limbs!", shouted Edward. A small, worried face looked through a small grate at head height for a normal person, focusing first on the large suit of armour, before lowering to the child next to it. "Go away, I'm not working tonight!" he shouted, before shutting the grate.

"I didn't wanna have to do this, but I'm a state-alchemist, and if you don't open up I'm gonna bust down this door!" replied Edward, in typical boisterous fashion. "Damn stupid kids, I don't have time to deal with small fry now..." whispered the man behind the door, shortly before the young man outside burst into a rage.

"WHO YOU CALLING SO TINY YOU COULDN'T TELL HIM FROM AN ANT!" Edward shouted, before promptly blasting the metal door open using alchemy. "We need his help brother, we can't go attacking him!" chided Alphonse, knowing full well how mental Edward went at any mention of his vertical deficiency. "It's fine Al," replied Edward in an annoyed tone, "see? He's still able to run. But where's he running to I wonder? Come on Al, let's go!"

The brothers followed the healer into the building, deeper and deeper until they finally reached a large room. Inside, they saw Steiner pleading with a dark-green haired person, who was looking both bored and pissed at the same time. "Envy..." muttered Edward, knowing the homunculus well, the monster who had killed his friend, Maes Hughes. "Well well, the Elric brats, ya shoulda told me Steiner! I would've been happy to deal with 'em! Just do your job you weakling!" cried Envy, before leaping to attack the two alchemists. Edward and Alphonse were hard pressed to fight the homunculus, Envys incredible strength and speed easily able to match their alchemy and combat skills. As the fight pressed on, Ed noticed that Steiner had disappeared into a room to the side of where they had entered from. Edward managed to direct the fight so it lead that way, and when he saw what was inside, he stopped dead. A huge, what could only barely be described as a man, was slumped inside an alchemical circle, which had just been completed by Steiner. "Don't do it!" shouted Edward, as Envy kicked him to the ground from behind. "Go on doctor, finish your mission" retorted the homunculus, as Steiner placed his palms against the circle. What happened next was the opening of a gate, but not the gate that anyone expected. The thing in the circle disintegrated, and a hole in reality appeared in it's place. It swallowed up Steiner, who was screaming in agony, and then Edward fell unconscious.

In the year 845 Wall Maria had been breached by the Colossal and Armoured Titans. The Titans had flooded through, consuming everyone who was unable to flee beyond the safety of Wall Rosa. 2 years later, Captain Hannes of the Defence Force was staggering home after a shift on the Wall, drunk as usual, when he came across a young blonde boy wearing strange, wealthy seeming clothes collapsed in an alley. Hannes couldn't rouse the boy, and while normally in a situation like this he'd take the boy to a Military Police outpost, he thought "Seeing as I'm headed home already, I might as well take him with me. I can always take him to an outpost on my way to the Wall tomorrow after all." He hoisted the deceptively heavy boy over his shoulder, and continued on his way. When he got home, he found a note from his darling wife, berating him for being home late drunk again, and saying that she was staying with a friend for a while to help her get over a bad breakup. Hannes sighed, and placed the boy on the couch, then jumped back at the clatter he heard. "What's he got under that coat?" he thought, as he removed it. Hannes was stunned for several seconds, as he saw the boys arm completely armoured. "Why the heck would he be wearing armour?" he mused aloud, as he left to get another much-needed drink from the cupboard. When he got back to the boy, he saw the boy groaning and attempting to rise. "Easy there kid, you were collapsed in an alley when I saw you. Any idea what happened?"

The boy mumbled, "What the heck happened, last thing I remember I was in the lab, Steiner was drawing a circle, and... Where's Al?!" The last words were shouted as the boy leapt up, followed by him falling back to the couch as he was overcome with nausea. "Wait," thought Hannes, "there was someone with him?" Hannes thought a short while, and said "When I found you, you were alone in that alley. If anyone was with you, they were gone by the time I got there. By the way kid, mind telling me your name?"

The boy attempted to draw himself as large as possible, before replying "Edward Elric, State-Alchemist." "State-Alchemist? What's that?" replied Hannes, completely lost. "What, you never heard of State-Alchemists? Next you'll tell me you've never heard of Amestris." chided Edward. "Nope, never heard of it," replied Hannes, with a hint of bemusement. "Obviously this kid is still lost in fantasy land. Not a bad place to be, certainly better then here at any rate" Hannes thought to himself, as Edward started thinking. "So, you've never head of Amestris, or Alchemists, or anything like that? Where am I then?" Edward asked the clearly drunk man.

"Why you're inside lovely Wall Rosa, just outside the Trost district." Hannes replied with a grin.

"So I'm in a place where no-ones even heard of Alchemy, " thought Edward, "and I have no idea where it is. I'd better feign like I hit my head or something."

"Hey, sir, my head hurts pretty bad, and I'm not thinking too straight, you mind explaining to me exactly where Wall Rosa is?"

Hannes was incredulous. This kid was either crazy, or was suffering from pretty serious memory loss. Either way, he'd probably need a good doctor. As Hannes explained the Walls, and wound up giving a general exposition on the entire situation of humanity, trapped inside the walls hiding from the monstrous Titans, his thought returned to Dr Grisha Jeager, the greatest man Hannes had ever known, and his wife, Carla. He'd failed to save her, instead of killing the titan, he fled with her son Eren and adoptive daughter, Mikasa. That act had caused him no end of personal turmoil, thinking he had failed to repay the debt that he owed Dr Jeager for saving his wife during the sickness almost a decade ago. Hannes finished his explanation of the military structure to Edward, who seemed to drink it all in like it could change his life, and stood up, shaking the stiffness out of his legs. "Well, I don't know where you're from kid, but I do know that you can't stay here for long. My wife will kill me if she finds out I'm bringing waifs and strays home with me, so tomorrow I'm dropping you off at one of the Military Police outpost, see if they can find out who you are and where you're from."

"No need," replied Edward, a wicked grin spreading across his face, "I'm gonna sign up, I'm 15, the right age to join at from what you've said, and what better way to find out information than joining up with the Military Police." Edward thought that, seeing as the Military Police was restricted to the best, and had almost universal access to many libraries, they might have some information relating to other worlds, and how to get back.

Hannes was about to try and convince the young man otherwise, but upon seeing the look in his eyes, the same one that filled Erens when he vowed to exterminate the Titans, he changed his mind, and instead said "Look, I don't know if you'll make it into the top ten, but I'll try and help you out for now. In return for my help, and putting you up for the night, I want you to try and help out a kid I know if you can. I owe his father a great debt, and it would be easier on me knowing he had friends to help him out. His name is Eren Jeager."

_Note: Sorry this first chapter is pretty long. This is the first fanfic I have ever written, and I had to establish what was going on with the story, including how in the hell Ed could possibly arrive in the AOT universe. Please leave a comment describing what you liked and disliked, and don't worry, next update __**will**__ include the characters we know and love/tolerate/despise._


	2. Chapter 2: Boot Camp (part one)

It was almost time, Edward was about to become a dog of the military yet again, if only the line wasn't so damn long. Honestly, why were so many people joining up with the military. There were probable a few looking to get into the Police, a few patriots, and some who had no where else to go, but where were the rest coming from? "Even one more desk would make this stupid thing be over with faster," he said aloud, "it's not like they can't put more people on recruiting duty."

"Yeah," said a voice behind him, "there's bound to be plenty of people wanting a cushy desk job like this, but the guys in the Police don't even care. Honestly, they've earned the right to take it easy, but this level of laziness is just stupid." Edward looked behind him, and saw a young man with grey hair standing behind him. "You're telling me," Ed replied, "guess they only try hard in the beginning so they can put in no effort later on. Name's Edward, trying for the Police, but don't confuse me with those slackers." "Mine's Jean, I'm going for the Police as well, but only so I can live a nice, calm, stable life."

"I can respect that," Ed replied, "all most people want is to be able to live safely. Myself, I'm joining the Police because they have access to heaps of books, and I want to learn as much as I can."

"Listen, I reckon there's a shortage of smart people around this place, and you seems like you have a good head on your shoulders. What say we try to stick together, I could do with a few friends," Edward remarked. "Why not," Jean replied, "two heads are better than one, and I myself could use someone to rely on through the training."

As they shook hands, Edward arrived at the front of the line, standing in front of a bored looking drone. "Name, age, home, and family," drawled the man behind the desk. "Edward Elric, 15, homeless and none," replied the alchemist. The man looked at Edward over the desk, "You look a little small for-" he said, before being cut off with "WHO YOU CALLING SO TINY YOU'D NEED A MICROSCOPE TO SEE HIM!" Edward lept onto the desk before grabbing the man by his collar. Edward was about to raise his fist, before hearing the distinctive click of firearms being prepared, and looked around to see several men wearing Police uniforms aiming, what they considered rifles, at him. Ed released the man, and slowly raised his hands saying "Sorry, I have a bit of an anger problem, but you all heard him insult me."

"Stand down," said a distinguished, confident voice, and Edward turned to see an older gentleman holding a hip flask looking square at him. "Commander Pixis Sir, this kid attacked one of our men manning the desks, he needs to be punished," said one of the other demesne, saluting the man wearing a garrison uniform.

Pixis laughed, and said "If more people we're like this young man, we'd take back wall Maria with ease! Listen up young man," he said directly to Edward "If you promise to never assault an officer again, I'll let this matter slide, and you'll be allowed to join the military." "Commander, this is a Police matter and-" The Policeman was cut off by Pixis stating "I am in charge of the entire southern quarter of the walls. I say he's learnt his lesson, but if you insist on a bigger punishment, I'm sure a day in the stables will help him learn."

Edward thought about arguing, but he was being given a choice between some simple labour he could easily handle, or prison he could probably escape, but with effort, which would leave him a wanted criminal. The decision was easy, "Thank you sir, I'll try to avoiding giving out beatings to members of the Military Police from now on."

Edward was now stuck in a stable all alone. The Police had given him a splintery shovel and left him alone to clean the entire stable. Of course, he had alchemy, and it was time to cheat. He'd been slacking around for about an hour, and it was time to use his skills to remove all the thoroughly used straw and other crap. He clapped his hands and slammed them on the ground. Energy crackled, and everything covering the floors began to stack up. It was slower than usual, and as they piled up, Edward began to wonder why he was feeling so tired. When he woke up, it was getting dark, and he was lying on the ground face down next to several piles of straw and crap. He sat up, and as he was wondering what had happened, the Policeman from earlier came into the stable. "Well, you've piled up all the crap, but you haven't replaced it or moved the crap out back. Finish the job, and then you can go."

As Edward began moving the refuse, he thought back on what had happened. It looked like using alchemy was slower here, and took a toll on him, making him tired. It wasn't something he'd want to try again in a hostile situation, and even is a safe situation, he'd want to keep it minimal. Ed finished up the job, and got directions to the barracks where he was going to stay until the carts came to carry all the new recruits to the training grounds.

It was going to take some time, but Edward was going to find out how he'd got here, and how to get back.


	3. Chapter 3: Boot Camp (Part Two)

Basic training had started. Edward was sitting in the mess, eating his dinner when the fight broke out between his new friend Jean and Eren, the guy he'd been told to look out for. "Those two will either become fast friends or sworn enemies," He thought to himself, as they shook hands and parted ways. Less than a minute later, he saw Jean giving Eren the look of death as he walked off with Mikasa. "Sworn enemies it is then," He thought to himself as he went back into the mess to grab something more to eat. As he walked past a table, he heard some trainees telling stories, one of which stopped him dead. ".. Steiner managed to break out somehow, and lead the police on a chase through the city. The only clue they had to his escape was that the walls had been blown apart from the inside, and-" "What did you say?!" Shouted Elric as he lept to the table. 3 trainees, Mina, Harold and Thomas, were sitting there, and Harold had been telling the story. "Well, it's the story about the 'Mad Alchemist', or so he was called, from about 30 years ago. Apparently, he destroyed several buildings and was only taken down when 10 members of the Police shot him in an alley."

Edward walked away, leaving the 3 wondering what his deal had been. 30 years had passed in this world, but it had only been a few seconds between Steiner vanishing and him falling unconscious. If this was all true, then time was going different, and maybe he wouldn't have such a strict schedule to try and get back. Hell, he might even be able to find some information on restoring the body of Alphonse and himself. First thing though, he'd have to get through the training.

The next day, everyone was testing the 3-Dimensional Manoeuvre gear, and it looked like many people were getting it done easily. Edwards turn came up, and it was time to shine. He was already pretty good at balance, being able to ride pillars of earth upside down while using alchemy, and his training with his Alchemy Master has made his body very strong. He strapped on the gear, and was hoisted up. It was surprisingly easy to just hang there, so he wound up swinging back and forth to get a good feel for how the gear worked. He was winched down, and then Erens turn came up. Eren immediately fell over, unable to stay upright for any length of time. It even seemed as if he was among the worst failures. Edward felt sorry for the guy, everyone knew by now Erens life goal was to kill titans, and here he was being disqualified before he could even start. Later that night Eren was going around asking for advice. Edward decided to help out. After all, he knew what it was like to have a goal you'd give anything to accomplish, and he knew just how far Eren might end up going. "Listen Eren, I don't know if I can help you at all, but I'm willing to give it a shot." He said, when Eren walked up to him. "Thanks Edward." Eren replied, a small glimmer of hope in his eyes. "Come on, lets go for a walk."

As they left the cabin, the two of them walked out into the forest near the training grounds. "Listen Eren, if you can't keep yourself balanced in your mind, there's no way you'll be able to stay upright in the gear. Tell me why you want to kill titans so badly, maybe talking about it will help centre yourself," Edward said, simple wanting to break the silence that was growing.

Eren thought, and then replied, stating "I saw one of those things eat my mother, back when the wall fell. I couldn't do anything about it, so I resolved to get strong enough about it to do something. That's why I'm joining the Survey Corps, so that I can kill the Titans, and free humanity from these walls."

"Damn," thought Edward, "He's like me. He was powerless as his mother died, and now he wants to do something about it. At least he's not trying to bring here back like we did."

"Well, my stories pretty similar." Ed replied. "My mother died from an illness, and so my younger brother and I tried to get stronger too. I screwed up, and wound up getting my brother hurt. I'm trying to join the Police to find a way to help him, as they've got access to the most resources." "It's not a complete lie," he thought, "Everything I said was true, just missing a few bits."

Eren was at a loss. Here was someone else who'd lost everything, but was now living to help his brother. He couldn't be angry that Edward wanted to join the Military Police, but he couldn't bring himself to feel a similar way. "Listen Eren, you have a sister right, Mikasa? Even though she's adopted, she's still family. Try to live for the living, not the dead. Or you might end up hurting more people than you know." Those words, as they came out of Edwards mouth, fired up Erens rage, and he spouted back "You know, I am going to live for those who are still alive. I'm going to kill the Titans, and free humanity from their tyranny!"

Edward chuckled, and said "Just as long as you make sure you don't end up dead. Nothing worse than a life wasted hunting for revenge."

Edward remembered Scar, the Ishvalan who sought revenge for the murder of most of his people. He had wound up killing many who'd had nothing to do with the acts, and every time they met, Scar had only seemed more empty. He didn't want to see that happen to Eren, someone with a life to live and people who cared for him, but it looked as though Eren was thinking about it more now, not just in terms of revenge. "Well, that's about all I can help you with," Edward said, as they reached a clearing, "Just clear your head, and centre yourself. Don't rush at it without thinking and you should be fine."

The next day, Eren succeeded in remaining upright for several seconds, before falling. The drill sergeant had him trade his gear with Edward, and it turned out that Erens gear had been faulty. Training proper was starting, and it was going to be a gruelling 3 years.

Close combat, Edward Elrics speciality. Fighting another person one on one, dealing blows while attempting to avoid the blows of others. When it started, he thought he'd found something he'd love, but it turned out that he was one of the few who were taking it seriously. People wouldn't fight him properly, because they were just slacking off, and he could hardly practice properly alone. So he often wound up just sitting down somewhere, watching everyone slack off. As he was watching, he saw Eren and another trainee, a guy called Reiner, challenge the girl called Annie. What surprised him was that she was able to flip both of them over themselves, easily defeating the both of them. He grinned evilly, and walked over to her. "Hey, Annie, I saw how you took those two down, and I'd like to go a round." As he said that, people started to slowly crows around. Edward had gained a reputation for being a pretty good fighter from the early days, and the rumours that he threw a member of the Military Police into a wall hadn't helped things. Annie sighed, and said "All right then, I don't really have anything better to do." As Edward dropped into a fighting stance, Annie followed suit. The first engagement was fast. Edward launched several kicks and punches, none of which connected, but Annies counters were also all blocked or dodges. Annie remarked "You're good, who taught you?" Edward replied with a simple "My master was pretty damn harsh. She left me and my brother on an island in the middle of a lake for a month before she agreed to train us," before cartwheeling and launching a kick which Annie barely avoided. The fight continued for a few minuted, with neither combatant making much headway, until the Drill Sergeant walked in shouting "Break it up, Break it up!" The fight had drawn so much attention that everyone had stopped training, as people had even started placing bets with their desserts of who would win. As everyone dispersed, Edward laughed, saying "You're really good. I'd love too keep sparring with you," presenting a hand to be shook. Annie agreed saying "You're definitely better than you first looked." As they did so, Annie wondered about how Edward could move so easily while wearing armour. She didn't say anything though, as everyone has secrets after all, herself included.

3 years had passed, and the training of the 104th squad was over. The top 5 had surprised no-one, with Mikasa coming 1st, Reiner coming 2nd, Bertolt coming 3rd, Edward coming 4th, and Annie coming 5th, The 6th and 7th were a bit of surprise, with Eren just beating out Jean for 6th. 8th was Marco, followed by Connie in 9th and Sasha in 10th. Everyone was celebrating their completion of the training. In a few days, they'd be choosing their path for the future, and everyone was discussing what's they'd be doing. First,however, they'd be serving a day on the Walls, a task which no-one relished. Edward, Eren, Connie, Sasha, Mina, Thomas and Samuel had been assigned to the small stretch of wall on the outer Trost Gate, cleaning the cannons and making sure they were working. "What, is everyone joining the Survey Corps?" exclaimed Edward. Connie, Thomas and Sasha had all just proclaimed their intent to join the Survey Corps, and spirits were high. Sasha had stolen some meat for lunch, things were calm, and he was soon going to have access to all the information he could get his hands on regarding this world, especially about the stories on Arnold Steiner. As he grinned, lighting struck from no-where, and a monstrous face appeared over the wall. It was the Colossal Titan he'd heard about, and as he was wondering where it had come from, the pressure wave hit.


	4. Chapter 4: Trost Falling

The immense pressure wave hit the soon to be ex-trainees, knocking them off their feet and over the walls. Thankfully, everyone working on the wall is required to wear manoeuvre gear as a safety measure, so almost everyone was able to launch their hook into the wall and stop their fall. As Ed regained his balance, he saw Samuel falling, his eyes shut. Edward immediately disconnected his hooks, shouting "Leave Sammy to me!" He launched his hooks into the wall at a point lower than Samuel was at, which allowed him to catch up. He grabbed Samuels leg using his automail arm and launched his other hook back into the wall. As he noticed the small trickle of blood coming from Samuels head, he heard Eren shout "This is our chance! Attack the Colossal Titan!" Edward looked up in time to see Eren shoot over the wall, followed shortly by a massive gust of steam likely coming from the Titan. As he pulled Samuel to the top of the wall, he saw everyone already waiting and crowding around Eren, asking him what had happened. What he didn't see was the Colossal Titan which had been there mere moments before. As Eren explained the Titans disappearance, Edward wondered why Eren seemed untouched by the steam gusts from before. Surely the heat would burn anyone who was caught in it, meaning that Eren had somehow avoided the gusts. Sasha was the first to notice Samuels condition, and said "Is Samuel okay?" "I think he's taken a piece of rubble to the head. He may be suffering from a concussion, and needs some medical attention soon." Edward explained. "Thomas, Mina, both of you get Samuel back to the HQ. Everyone else, we have to start evacuating civilians beyond the wall. Our first priority has to be minimising damage." Everyone moved down the wall, with Thomas and Mina heading back to the HQ with Samuel while Edward, Eren, Connie and Sasha staying near the gate. Before they could really start evacuating any nearby civilians, a member of the Garrison came flying towards them. "Everyone head back to the HQ! Let the Garrison handle the evacuation for now!" As the trainees met back up, Edward looked back and saw the titans coming through the now shattered gate. They were mockeries of life, and even though this was the first time he had really seen a Titan, they somehow seemed familiar.

Back at the Headquarters for the Trost District, the 104th Trainee squad formed up. As there was only one brigade of Garrison Soldiers stationed within the Trost area, the trainees were being assigned to assist in the evacuation of civilians and from the centre to the rear of the city. They were also assigned to defend the castle and ferry gas to the various squads being deployed throughout the city. Each of the top 10 trainees bar Mikasa, who had been assigned in the very rearguard defending the civilians at the gates, had been assigned to lead a squad of trainees across the rear half of the district. Edward, on the basis of having a clear head when the Colossal Titan appeared, had been assigned to run across town, delivering spare gas and making sure there were no civilians still in their homes.

He was just coming back from delivering gas to one of the vanguard squads when he spotted a 10m class titan reaching into a house a good distance to the left of his current path. He changed trajectory the second he heard the screaming from that direction. Launching a hook directly into the titans neck, he gave himself a jet of gas to speed up, and slashed deep into the titans nape. Moving into the house, he saw a young boy in the grip of the titans evaporating hand. Knowing that the steam could leave serious burns, he forced open the titans grip and pulled the child away from the disintegrating hand. Turning around, he saw the child's father, cowering in a corner. "What the hell are you doing here? You should be evacuating!" He shouted, angered that there were still people who weren't even remotely safe yet. "Well, I thought about it, but I reckon someone bound to leave something good behind, and the titans won't use it, so-" the man's response was cut short by Edwards fist striking his face, as Edward shouted "So you thought you'd risk the life of your son for some valuables! What kind of ass-hole are you?" The man just cried, but Edward had already answered his own question. No matter where you go, people will do stupid and sometimes just evil things for wealth. "Look, just get to the gate. You don't deserve any help, but there's no way I'm gonna let you abandon your kid, so I'm gonna move with you for a short while."

He followed them via the roofs for a few streets down, before spotting another titan, 15 metre class this time, coming up behind them. "Damn it, keep moving! I'll take that thing!" He shouted to the pair, as he turned around and began hooking towards the titan. "Okay then, enemy directly in front, no easy way around them, no choice but to fight. Just the way I like it." He started off by swinging straight down the centre of the street, keeping low. As he knew it would, the titan began to squat down in order to try and grab him. As the titan reached for him, he launched both of his hooks to a house to the left, suddenly getting him just out of harms way. As he swung behind the titan, he hooked directly across the street, and let of a massive jet in order to get a speed boost. He then performed a lateral slice across the titans neck, cleanly removing the core. He then landed heavily into the house he had hooked to left leg first. Had it been anyone else, they could have easily broken their leg, however Ed's automail leg took the blow with relative ease. Unfortunately, 3 years of nothing more than basic maintenance finally took their toll, as a joint in the knee finally broke. "Shit!" Ed exclaimed, knowing that without the knee moving properly, he could barely walk, and without control of the leg he'd have trouble keeping his balance. He moved to the roof and rolled up his trouser leg, trying to get a good look at the knee. Not being particularly gifted with automail technology, all he knew was that something had given inside the casing, and that he'd need an auto-mail mechanic to fix it. As he wondered where the hell he'd be able to find a mechanic, he saw Connies squad coming over the rooftops towards his position. As he rolled down his pants, Connie shouted "The Vanguard has been wiped out, and Titans have cut us off from the HQ. We're meeting back up to try and figure out what to do." "Damn it, alright then just give me a minute to catch my breath." Edward replied as he slowly got back to his feet, obviously favouring his left leg. "You do something to your leg?" Connie asked as he landed on the roof. "Don't worry about it, I just landed on it wrong," Edward said, dismissing the question, even though it was obvious his leg was having trouble. "Let's go meet up with the others, just follow us," Connie said, doubtful that Edward was really fine.

As Edward, following Connies squad, arrived at the group, he looked around and saw it. Their faces, all of them had seen someone die. It was painted in their eyes. Everyone had been powerless as someone died. As he looked around, he heard a voice calling out. "Asshole! Where's your squad, where's the gas, where's our backup?!"He turned just in time for Jean's fist to catch his cheek. "What the hell?" Edward retplied, as Jean was held back by Marco. "You were put in charge of the gas runners right? So where's your squad? Where's our gas? How are we supposed to get back across the wall?" "Look, I don't know where they are, I had to stop off and help out some civilians. When I left, everything was running smoothly." Jean made ready to argue further, when Mikasa arrived from the rear of the city. "Why are you still here? The retreats been signalled so why aren't you over the wall?" She asked, looking around at the people gathered. "We're all too low on gas. We can't make it over the wall. This idiots squad screwed us." Jean replied, pointing to Edward. "Hey, don't blame me. The Garrison Command had decided to move back behind the wall, and I was the only one who was willing to run gas to the vanguard, so I had to go." "Has anyone seen Erens squad?" Mikasa asked, ignoring the argument that was starting between Jean and Edward. "Armin's over there but..." Connie replied, his voice trailing off. Mikasa walked over to where Armin was sitting, and asked him"Where's Eren?", As soon as Armin looked up with a tear streaked face, Edward knew the truth. As Armin screamed, "The members of Squad 34 of the Trainees have given their lives valiantly in service of humanity!" Edward motioned towards Jean, and began to walk towards hin. "We have to make sure she doesn't do something stupid. You know how much she cared about him." Jean nodded, a grim look on his face as his anger slightly faded, replaced with concern. Mikasa stood up, a blank look on her face. "I will lead us all to the Headquarters, past the Titans. I am strong, and I have gas to spare. Follow me and live, or cower here and die, the choice is yours." With that said, she turned around and began to head towards the HQ. "Damn it, fine! I gotta find out what those idiots were doing without me anyway! Stand on your own two feet and move people!" Edward called out as he followed her. As he left, he heard Jean begin to give a speech, shortly followed by cheering and the rest of the trainees following behind them. The last ditch effort for survival for the trainees was at hand, and there he was leading the charge.


	5. Chapter 5: Retreat from Trost

The 104th Trainee squad was moving out, or what was left of it at any rate. People were falling behind as they ran out of gas. Even so, things were looking good, until Mikasa fell. She had been pushing her gear, and wasting gas when racing ahead killing titans that were in the way. "I'll get her!", Armin shouted in a rare display of heroism, shortly followed by Connie. This left Edward at the head of the group, and there was another few clumps of titans between the Trainees and the HQ. "Damn my heroic nature," he thought, and he called out to Jean "I'll go ahead and distract that group, you take the others to the right while I drag them left!" Jean barely had time to call out "Are you crazy?" before Edward sped off ahead. Edward knew that he had no chance at killing all of them with a busted leg and no alchemy, so he didn't even try. As he sped towards them he shouted "Over here you bloody nudists!" slashing one before moving towards the left. He quickly looked behind, and saw 3 of the 4 titans turn and chase after him. He slowed down slightly so that he could keep their attention, not calling back again in case there were more nearby. After seeing that the main force of the trainees had pulled past the titans, he swung around a bell-tower, and began heading towards the HQ. Unluckily for him, there was a titan waiting right around the corner. Edwards instincts kicked in, and instead of attempting to dodge the titans maw, he clapped his hands and slapped the monsters forehead. Edwards eyes widened as he remembered what had happened earlier, but instead of himself falling unconscious, the titans eyes rolled back, and it fell to the ground. Edward followed it down, his fall cushioned by the titan, and having no idea what had happened, but if he believed in a god, he would have thanked it then and there. He grabbed up the handles to his gear, amazed that he hadn't cut himself with the glorified box-cutters, and remembered the titans following him. He reactivated the gear, and followed the Trainees, hoping to catch up with them and help get them into the HQ.

Edward had seen the Trainees stop before reaching the HQ, and arrived to see them start moving again. He notice that there were significantly less people than there had been before he left. He tried to move to the head of the group, and saw that the HQ was crawling with Titans. He could talk about those who were missing when everyone was safe, so he shouted, "Just bust through the windows, they can be fixed later!" He gave himself a gas boost, and was among the first to burst into the HQ command floor. He tried to put his left leg forward to absorb most of the shock, only too late remembering it was busted. He fell down and rolled across the floor, coming to a stop next to a desk. Under the desk he saw some of the Trainees that had, like him, been assigned to ferry gas across the city. He got up, and leaning on the desk reached under with his automail arm, pulling out one of the Trainees. "What the hell are you doing? Where's the Commander? Why weren't you ferrying gas like we were told to?"

"S-s-sorry, but, the commander left us here, and then the titans came, and we couldn't go, or they'd eat us!" He stammered out. Edward raised his left arm off the desk, intending to punch him, when Jean pulled the trainee away. "You left us all to die!" He shouted, punching the young man to the ground.

"Calm down man," Marco said, restraining Jean before he could assault the coward further.

"No, I will not calm down! Because of them, we had to leave our comrades to be eaten while we escaped, and-"

"Hey, it won't do any good. Just look at them, and at that" Edward cut him off, pointing to a body slumped against a desk. It was another of the squad, who had blown his own brains out with an old musket. "They're broken, and if they'd prefer to kill themselves instead of trying, what good would it do? It's just sad that they decided to become soldiers."

Jean relaxed, but before he could say anything the wall behind him exploded, revealing the grinning faces of a pair of Titans. However, before the trainees had time to even react, the faces were cleared away by a huge fist. As Edward moved towards the hole to see what was going on, Mikasa and Connie, carrying Armin in his arms, leapt through one of the busted windows. As many remarks of "You're alive?" and "What was that?" flooded over them, Armin explained the situation. The trio has found a Titan that only targeted other Titans. Armin had come up with a plan to drive the Titan towards the HQ by killing other Titans around it, and then follow behind it. Edward looked out the hole and saw they were telling the truth. The "Beserker Titan" as Connie had dubbed it was killing the other Titans around the HQ, and they were targeting it in return. "Okay, so the outside is pretty much clear, but what about the inside?" Edward stated, directing the last part to the members of his gas squad.

"Okay, so we have no gas, 7 titans inside the main hall, and a whole bunch of firearms. Not a lot to work with." Armin said, having been designated as the tactician for this operation based on his previous plan and his scores in the tests during training. "Our best option is for a distraction to go down in the baskets with the guns, while 7 of our best wait in the rafters. The ones in the basket will wait till the last second, and then shoot the titans in the eyes, blinding them and opening them up for a surprise attack from the ones in the rafters. I'd prefer to send the 7 best according the the results, but,"

"I know, I know, my shot leg means I might screw it up, I get it." Edward interrupted.

"And I'll be needed in the basket with everyone else to help time it, right?" Marco followed up. "Right, we only have one shot at this, so lets make it count." Armin replied. "Okay, lets go."

The plan started off perfectly. The musketeers fired at the last second, blinding the titans, and the attackers leapt from the rafters and struck for the napes. Unfortunately, Connie failed to strike deep enough and Sasha struck off centre, leaving their two titans alive. As the titans turned, Mikasa and Annie struck from behind, killing the two 5 metre classes from the ground. Connie sat there shocked, while Sasha tearfully thanked Mikasa. "Okay, now we gotta close the doors, lets go." said Edward, moving towards the western door, the furthest from the group. He noticed while moving to the door that his glove had ripped, and what looked like a small bit of rust on his automail arm. "Winry really would kill me if she saw me like this", he thought while scratching at it, and turning a corner he saw that the western door was completely broken. He swore, and smacked his automail hand against one of the pieces still attached to the frame. As he struck it, a familiar feeling came over him, and the door quickly remade itself amid pale blue lightning. His first thought was "I didn't do that!" His second thought was "Why am I still awake?" He remembered how first time he'd done alchemy in this place he'd fallen unconscious, and the same thing had happened every other time he'd tried it. He walked back wondering what was different, and told everyone that the west door was shut.

The Trainee squad was preparing to move out. Everyone was gathering on the roof and walls of the HQ, but they hadn't moved out yet. The reason, what to do about the Berserker Titan. "

We should leave it, it's just a titan." Jean was saying.

"But it could be useful as a weapon, we have to find out why it's different." Armin retorted.

"It looks pretty moot if you ask me, I think it's dead." Connie said pointing to where it was covered in Titans and missing it's arms.

Armin looked over, and his gaze travelled to the left. "That's it, the Titan that killed Thomas! It can jump and climb towers, so watch out!" He shouted pointing to a gangly Titan that was walking towards the HQ. As soon as it entered the Berserker Titans field of view, the Beserker Titan shouted, and rushed it, chomping straight through it's nape. The Titan Roared, and fell to the ground smoking. "Definitely moot now, lets get moving," stated Jean, moving to head towards The Wall. "Wait, something's happening," said Edward, looking at the Titans neck. It looked like something was trying to get out. Edward curiosity turned to shock as Eren Jaeger, who everyone thought had died, emerged from the Titans neck. Mikasa was the first down, and she hugged the unconscious Eren, having hysterics. "What is going on, it's impossible to come back from the dead." Edward thought. "And why is his arm back, I thought it had been removed?" He thought, looking at his own automail arm. "Wait, this could be it." He thought with a wicked grin. "If I can find out how he regrew his arm, and how he survived the titan, maybe I can get Al his body back!" His grin turned into a frown, "Now all I gotta do know is find a way back. No pressure or anything."

The command was in chaos. The wall had been broken by the Colossal Titan, the rock to plug the hole wasn't anywhere near the gate, and this was before the trainee squad came scrambling over the wall long after the call for retreat. With them they had brought what had completely destroyed any attempts at further planning. They had brought Eren Jaeger, who was apparently a titan, and this was the main focus of all efforts. The trainees had been separated from the young man, however two of the trainees had insisted on staying with him. Edward Elric was waiting with the rest of the trainees, wondering what was going to happen, when the thunderclap boomed and a cannon shot rang out.

"What the hell was that?", "Was that a cannon shot?", "It it the Armoured Titan?", and other questions were flooding over the gathered trainees. "Hold on, the cannon is aimed inside the walls, and it sounded like two explosions." As Edward made ready to engage his gear, Annie, Bertholdt and Reiner raced towards the sounds. "Damn it, why is our first instinct to run towards danger huh?" Jean remarked following them. Edward followed, and the scene was truly shocking. There were nearly 30 garrison soldiers arranged in a semi-circle around the wall, with cannons trained towards it. What was truly shocking was the large half formed torso in a cloud of smoke. It looked as though someone had set about making a person, and stopped maybe ¼ of the way through. It was partially covered in muscle, and the chest cavity seemed empty. It had only one eye, and bone was exposed everywhere. It's one arm was raised towards one of the cannons, and the hand was blasted apart. Shouts came up from the guards, "Did you see, he created that titan from thin air! He's one of them!"

"It can't be, it's impossible to create something from nothing. Where did the matter for the body come from?" Edward was completely baffled as to how it had happened, and it looked as though the quartet he had followed were equally shocked at the situation.

As Edwards thoughts turned towards the only horror capable of breaking the laws of equivalent exchange, Armin ran from the steam cloud.

"Stop, don't shoot us! We can use Eren's powers as a weapon to fight the Titans! We can use him to take back Wall Rosa!"

"Damn it, doesn't he realise they won't listen to reason?" Edward thought. Just before he lept down to try and save them, he saw an old man grab the captains arm.

"Come on now captain. Just look at this brave young man. How can you condemn him to death without even listening?" It was commander Pixis, and he was once again saving the day. "Come now, let's talk trainees. Let's see whether you're trustworthy."

The five were standing on wall Maria. Pixis, Eren, Armin, Mikasa and Edward. The three form Shigansina were there because of the circumstances surrounding them, and Edward because he refused to be left out. "If we tried to stop him, he could well flatten half the Garrison," Pixis had laughed when his aides had tried to object to his presence. "So, Armin was it, you had a plan right? Or was that all bluff?"

Armin took a breath, and said "Well, it's kinda a long shot, but if Eren can turn into a Titan and carry the boulder to the hole in the wall, we can plug it. And if we gather most of the troops on the section of wall opposite to the boulder, we should lure most of the Titans away."

"An interesting plan," Pixis mused, "But it all depends on Eren being able to transform, then control the transformation, then being able to carry the boulder. So, think you can do it?"

Eren looked at the four who were standing around him. Mikasa, who had always had his back since that night in the woods, whether he wanted it or not. Armin, who had always been his friend, and had ignited his dreams for freedom. Edward, who had helped him through training, and tried to make sure he kept his head. And Commander Pixis, who was giving him a choice between life and fighting the titans, or death. "Yes, I can do it Commander Pixis Sir!"

"Good man. This newest generation may well prove to be the greatest yet."

_Authors Note: Sorry about the wait. Uni has hit pretty hard. I'm gonna try and be better with updates from now on._


End file.
